


Sunshower

by blue_noize



Category: South Park
Genre: Crenny, F/M, I start too many stories and never finish, M/M, My friends said to make it a multichapter story, Oops, Started out as a ficlet, so here we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-17 10:09:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14830301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_noize/pseuds/blue_noize
Summary: Rain can be a very renewing natural phenomenon.That sunshower marked the start of Craig's new semester of hell.It marked the start of Kenny's journey away from home, for the first time.It ended up being the start of everything.





	1. Waterlogged

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally just a little thing I started on discord as a writing exercise, but my friends liked it enough that I decided to start an actual fic, so here we go.
> 
> I know I start things and never finish but hopefully I can finish this one.

Rain had to be one of Craig's favorite things in nature. Nothing could ever top the stars on a clear summer night, directly above Stark's Pond in his hometown, but rain was a close second.

On this particular day, the rain was soft but constant, the sun peeking through the clouds to shine through the droplets of water, creating little rainbows all over the quad. It was nearing the beginning of a new semester, and in protest of the anxiety that would soon addle Craig's brain at the thought of doing physics homework, the noirette had decided to stand by the statue and get completely soaked. 

"A-are you sure this is what you want to --ngh-- do, Craig?" The owner of those words spoke from underneath a frog decal umbrella, careful to keep all his clothes and his hair as far from the water as he could. 

"Yes, Tweek. This is what I wanna do," Craig retorted, shaking his head much like a dog would, dislodging quite a bit of water to only have it replaced by more. "This is the last time I'm gonna be able to just...stand here in the rain for the entire semester. Once it starts, I don't think I'll see the sun again." 

Tweek let out a breath, his emerald eyes flicking heavenward. "That's your f-fault, y'know." The annoyance in his voice was apparent. Tweek, unlike Craig, wasn't a huge fan of the rain. He didn't like how it made his clothes stick to his skin. "If you wouldn't have d-decided to up your course-load, --ngh-- _ again _ , we wouldn't be in this predicament."

Okay, so Tweek had a point. But Craig wasn't going to admit to that. He was too proud. Oh, he knew that this was his fault. He  _ knew _ that he was being childish, but hell, when did he actually have time to before? He had spent the better half of his own childhood raising his sister and doing five times the amount of schoolwork to make sure he could get out of that godforsaken town. He just...wanted to be free from that place. And now he was.

So why shouldn't he act childish just this once?

"I'm n-not gonna stay out with you the entire time, C-Craig."

"That's fine," the taller boy mumbled, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the statue behind him. 

Tilting his head backwards to look up at the sky, he took a deep breath in from his nose. He loved the smell of rain. Well, in truth it wasn't the  _ rain _ that held the smell. It was the pavement, the dirt, the trees, and the leaves that released the scent that everyone  _ thought _ was the smell of rain. Craig had learned that a long time ago, but he still liked to say it was the rain that smelled like that. Hell, it was  _ because _ of the rain that the smell was there, so why not just say it was the rain. 

During his little trip into the intricacies of the rain and the scent it gave off, Craig didn't notice Tweek let out a small sound of annoyance and turn on his heel, stomping away from his taller friend. It wasn't like Craig was  _ trying _ to annoy the blond. It just seemed like no matter what the noirette did these days, it annoyed Tweek. He supposed he should have tried to figure it out, but that was the thing with Tweek. The more you asked, the less the blond would tell you. 

So these days, Craig just let Tweek be annoyed, and eventually his friend would come to him and tell him what was wrong.

Letting out a breath, the noirette tapped the toe of his shoe against the cobblestone path the encircled the statue. He could feel the water seep into his shoes and completely soak his socks. It wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world, but it was easily ignored as long as he didn't move his feet too much. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he was once again grateful that he'd made enough money over the summer to get one of those newer smartphones, the ones that were waterproof. Given Craig's penchant to either fall into fountains or stand in rainshowers, it was a necessity. He couldn't count on one hand the amount of times he'd had to get new phones because he'd been pushed into a fountain by his friends.

Craig had already been standing outside for at least fifteen minutes, and he had made a bet with Clyde that he'd stay out for a full hour. At the end of this act of protest, he was probably going to get sick, but hell, he couldn't just  _ not _ accept a bet from Clyde. That would be, like, renouncing his crown, and that was something that Craig just couldn't do.

Despite the fact that it was still early afternoon, there were no other students milling around under the eves of the common building or people rushing to their destination with umbrellas pulled low over their heads to avoid as much rain as possible. It was a little strange, if Craig was being completely honest. Sure, it was raining, but there were always at least three or four people around.

Later, Craig would probably describe it as fate, but truthfully, he didn't believe in such things. It was just coincidence, but there would always be a little part of Craig that would rejoice at the thought that this had happened for a reason.

As Craig shoved his phone back into his pocket, he was about to sit down on the edge of the large pedestal that the statue was on, he heard a loud  _ thump! _ and then a muffled groan. The sound was so loud in the near silence of the area that Craig jumped. It was hard to surprise the noirette, but that sound had been loud enough,  _ and close enough _ , that Craig drew himself to his full height and glanced around, making sure that no one had seen him jump.

_ What the hell was that? _

Stepping around the the statue, Craig leaned a little, hoping to see the source of the sound before  _ it _ saw  _ him _ . At first, all he could see was a huddled figure covered in a damp orange sweater, the hood pulled over the owner's head as they knelt on the ground to pick up a pile of what looked like plastic wrapped binders, the kind you would find in a college bookstore. They must have been textbooks for whatever courses the huddled figure was taking.

The owner of the binders was mumbling to themselves, and from what Craig could hear over the rain, the person was quite annoyed. 

"Goddamn stupid rain and these stupid shoes and this stupid quad and why is everything uneven!?”

"Uhm..." Craig mumbled, stopped several feet from the huddled figure. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, juuuuust peachy!" The huddled figure was definitely male, Craig could tell that for certain now, but his voice seemed to climb several octaves on "peachy".

"Are...are you sure...?" Craig said, speaking a lot slower than he normally would, but in truth, this guy did not seem okay in any sense of the word, and it was starting to worry the noirette.

"Well, what do you think!?"

Suddenly, he whipped his head up, his hood falling back to reveal sandy blonde hair and vivid blue eyes with a smattering of freckles over his nose. Those blue eyes blinked, and Craig was just...stuck.

_ Whaaaaaaat the hell? _

Honestly, this guy was gorgeous, and Craig's poor gay heart just...couldn't seem to get a grip on how fast it was beating. "Uh, dude?" the sandy blonde in front of Craig said as he tilted his head to the side, obviously confused at Craig's sudden lack of ability to produce basic words. The noirette was pretty sure his mouth was hanging open at this point, but he just  _ couldn't _ seem to get his act together. He hadn't found anyone this attractive in  _ years _ , and it showed. "You okay, there?" 

Shaking his head quickly, Craig felt like he was about to dislodge his brain. The motion was similar to when he had shaken the water from his hair, and just as it did then, water droplets flew about and mingled with the rain. Remembering that the sandy blond had asked him a question, Craig blinked and shuffled on his feet, clearing his throat. "Uh, y-yeah. I'm alright. Just. Uhm. Do, uh, do you need help?"

It was at that moment that the blue-eyed blond boy in front of Craig rose to his feet, the stack of plastic wrapped binders held closely to his chest, and Craig's question was no longer effective. "Huh?" the orange clad stranger muttered, following Craig's gaze to the binders. "Oh! That! Nah, no I'm good, but thank you!" Stepping around Craig, who was still shuffling around like an idiot, the blond made his way towards the common building, which Craig knew would lead to one of the four dorms that were on campus.

Before it was too late, and the blond was gone for the foreseeable future, Craig suddenly whirled around and took a few steps forward. "Wait!" he called across the quad, which caused the blonde to pause and glance over his shoulder.

"Hm?"

"Uh! W-what's your name!?"

There was a few seconds lapse between the two, and Craig was afraid that the blond was just going to ignore him. Instead, the noirette was flashed a big grin and he saw that the blond had a gap in between his teeth, near the front. "I'm Kenny! It was nice to meet you, Craig!"

And then the blonde passed through the doors of the common building and was gone from Craig's sight.

The noirette blinked, water falling into his eyes and he stumbled backwards to lean against the statue again.  _ Kenny...huh? _

Craig let out a short laugh and smacked a hand against his forehead, which admittedly hurt.

_ Wait... _

Craig stumbled to his feet again and ran forward, crashing through the door to the common building. However, as he feared, Kenny was nowhere to be found.

"Hah! It hasn't been an hour! You lost, Craigothy!" Clyde's voice echoed from across the common room, but Craig barely heard it. He didn't care about the bet anymore. There was only one thing on his mind.

_ How the hell did he know my name!? _


	2. Downpour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally was gonna wait to post chapter 2, but i have no internet at home and might not be able to upload for a few days, so here we go.

If there was one thing that Kenny was entirely certain of, it was that the rain  _ sucked _ . It wasn't that he didn't like the rain. He did...in theory. But with the uneven cobbles of the campus quad, and the fact that he'd already stepped in a foot deep puddle and completely soaked his shoes, which caused his steps to be slippery and squishy, there was bound to be a disaster. Kenny had made it halfway across the quad before the disaster happened.

The stack of binder's he  _ had just bought _ (damn those bookstore prices) had started to tip. While trying to right them, the toe of his shoe had caught on an uneven cobble, and Kenny had gone sprawling onto his knees, the binders hitting the ground with a wet  _ thump _ !

Groaning, Kenny sat back on his haunches and shook his hands. He'd scraped them on the cobblestone walkway, and they were already starting to sting. It wasn't like this hadn't happened before; Kenny always had scrapes and bruises covering his arms and hands. It was just another side effect of his curse. Still hurt like hell, though.

_ Of all the things that could have happened today... _ Kenny thought as he let out a breath and leaned forward to start picking up his mess.  _ At least the books didn't get ruined. _

"Goddamn stupid rain and these stupid shoes and this stupid quad and why is everything uneven!?" Kenny muttered to himself as he slammed binder after binder on top of each other. His knees were getting more and more soaked the longer he spent on the ground. All he wanted to do was get to his dorm and put these things and just  _ sleep _ . Was that really too much to ask?

"Uhm...are you okay?" 

That was just  _ great _ . 

Of course! Someone would be there to see the lowest Kenny had been in  _ days _ . 

"Oh, juuuuuust peachy!" Kenny retorted at the person standing in front of him. He knew he was being ridiculous, and there was no reason to be  _ this _ upset about the entire thing, but Kenny was just so  _ tired _ . He'd been in the car for  _ six hours _ . He'd had to be in line at the bookstore for  _ two hours _ . This entire day had just been one thing after another. 

"Are...are you sure...?" the person asked, and Kenny wanted to hit them. OF COURSE HE WASN'T OKAY!! 

"Well, what do you think!?"

Kenny whipped his head up so quickly that his hood flew backwards and the rain began to soak his hair. He should have cared. Normally, he would have cared. 

But once Kenny laid eyes on the person standing in front of him, his heart and mind seemed to just...stop. Because of course, the famous "pretty boy" of University of Denver Colorado just  _ had _ to be the one to see Kenny make a total fool of himself.

Everyone knew of Craig Tucker. He'd been at the college for one semester already, and he'd already singlehandedly taken over the "Pretty Boy" title and had  _ all _ the girls after him. So of course Kenny knew who this guy was.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, and it wasn't until a gust a wind blew past them and shoved a bit of sandy blond hair into Kenny's eye that the moment was finally broken. His eyes finally focused and he realized that the guy was standing there with his mouth hanging open. "Uh, dude?" Kenny asked, tilting his head to the side to dislodge the hair from his eye. Despite the amount of care the blond put into his hair, it always seemed to betray him. "You okay, there?" Kenny watched as the noirette in front of him crashed back into reality and shook his head vigorously. Kenny was kind of concerned for the poor guy's health for a moment. His dark hair was thrown around and a few droplets fell onto Kenny's face, but it mingled with the rain to the point that the sandy blond didn't really notice it.

Clearing his throat, the noirette seemed to shuffle around a little bit and started to pick at the edge of his shirt. "Uh, y-yeah. I'm alright. Just. Uhm. Do, uh, do you need help?"

Kenny stumbled to his feet, forcing the stack of binders he had piled together against his chest. Now that he was actually standing, he realized just how  _ tall _ this guy was. He was easily half a head taller than Kenny. True, Kenny wasn't complaining...he had a thing for tall guys, but c'mon. Could this guy get  _ any _ more attractive? Glancing down at the stack of binders, which the taller guy was definitely staring at now, Kenny mumbled, "Huh? Oh! That! Nah, no, I'm good, but thank you!" Kenny stuttered out.

Shit, he needed to get outta there. The longer he stood in close proximity to the guy, the more flustered his mind seemed to get. Struggling to get his feet to  _ just start moving _ , Kenny all but scrambled away. If he wasn't soaked, and if he didn't have a bunch of textbooks in his arms, he'd flirt a bit more. But now wasn't the time. He was  _ almost _ to the doors of the common building when heard heard something behind him.

"Wait!"

Kenny really, really wanted to keep going, but despite all of his willpower, Kenny's feet came to a stop. He paused and looked over his shoulder, the fabric of his orange hoodie scrunching up and touched his cheek. His mind said, "Ew." But instead he hummed in response to the guy's word. "Hm?"

"Uh! W-what's your name!?" His name. Mr. Blue-Eyed "Pretty Boy" wanted to know Kenny's  _ name _ !? Oh, boy. OH, BOY!  _ Should I actually answer? _ Kenny was tempted to just say fuck it and keep running, but there was something tugging at the back of his mind. That tugging managed to win over in the end, and Kenny felt himself flashing the taller guy a huge grin. "I'm Kenny! It was nice to meet you, Craig!"

Wait...had he just called the guy  _ by name _ ?

_ Oh, shit. _

Forcing his feet into movement again, Kenny all but flew through the doors to the common building. Leaving the rainshower and Craig behind, Kenny didn't stop in his flight until he had made it through the building and outside once more, on his way to his dorm. He slammed his back against the wall and smacked his forehead down against the pile of binders. Of course, the one time he wasn't paying attention to his words, Kenny let that one name slip.

_ It's not like I have a flaming gay crush on the guy! Nope. Not at all. Not in a million years. _

It wasn't like they passed each other  _ every day _ on their separate ways to their jobs during the summer. 

It wasn't like Kenny would stop and stare at the guy while he messed around with his friends.

Nope. it wasn't like that…

At least...Kenny kept telling himself that.


	3. The Sky So Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No summaries, because when do they ever make sense anyway?

“I’m telling you, dude, I’ve never seen him before!”

“Craig, Craig, Craig...”

“Don’t you, ‘Craig’ me! I’m being serious here!”

Clyde only snorted as they continued their walk to their dorm. It had been an hour since Craig’s encounter with Kenny, and he was still trying to recover from those oh-so-blue eyes and the adorable freckles and the--

“Craig!”

At Clyde’s sudden outburst, Craig whipped his head around to look at his friend. “WHAT, CLYDE!?” he yelled, and then he managed to smack face first into the corner of the building as he turned the corner a little too quick..

“I was gonna warn you to watch out, but apparently it wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” the brunet retorted as he rolled his eyes at his friend. Craig was rubbing his nose and grumbling to himself. Crossing his arms, Clyde let out a breath. “Craig, c’mon, dude. Even I’ve seen this guy before. How could you have not seen him? You pass each other every day for work.”

“And I’m telling you that I would have remembered seeing him if I had.”

“No, you’re just not observant unless it has to do with school or space.”

Okay, so that wasn’t entirely false. Craig did care a fair amount when it came to those two things. He had to. It was his major. Well, astrophysics was, and that just came along with the school thing.

Stepping around the corner of the building, Clyde and Craig continued their walk to the dorm in relative silence. Thankfully, it seemed as if Clyde had dropped the subject of Kenny for now. In truth, Craig didn’t really feel like  _ talking _ about him. He was perfectly content to just...think about the sandy blonde. Had he really never noticed him before? It was true that Craig didn’t pay much attention to others. He tried, but sometimes the noirette just couldn’t stand other people. They were too loud, too “in his business” all the time. And maybe that had to do with the fact that he had been crowned “Campus Pretty Boy” last semester, but he didn’t really care for that title whatsoever.

“Did you hear about the party that Token’s having at the frat house?”

Zoning back in on the babble that Clyde had been spewing for the past few minutes as they passed through the doors of the dorm, Craig shook his head. “Isn’t he always having parties?”

“Well, yeah,” Clyde agreed, skipping slightly as they made their way to the stairs. “But this is the last major party of the summer before the new semester starts. Token won’t be hosting any more after this because he has to focus on school and not getting blackout drunk.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t start sooner.” Craig really hated these stairs. When were they going to finally fix the damn elevator.  _ It’s been out for four months now, c’mon, people. Fix it already. _

From his position at the top of the stairs as he waited for Craig to catch up, Clyde shrugged and offered, “I guess he wanted to have one last shebang and he was waiting til everyone was on campus.”

“Guess that makes sense. Classes start in like a week.”

“Exactly.” Clyde paused. “Do you think Bebe is gonna be there?”

_ Not this again... “ _ Yes, Clyde, I think she’ll be there,” Craig answered, finally setting foot on the landing so they could get to their room. “Why wouldn’t she be? You’ve been dating for like four years, my dude. If you’re gonna be there, she will, too. Simple as that.”

The brunet cast his eyes around and then a big smile formed on his face. “You’re right, Craig, as usual.” Chuckling, Clyde shrugged and spun around on his heel and took a few huge, goofy looking steps. But Clyde is as Clyde does and managed to take too big of step, leading to his foot kicking out from under him. The brunet landed on his ass on the floor with a loud  _ thump!  _ The taller boy was about to rush forward to help his friend, but Clyde began to giggle like a moron and turned around. “DUDE, DID YOU SEE THAT!? _ That was awesome!” _

Craig only snorted at his friend and his antics as Clyde jumped to his feet and kept walking.

It didn’t take long to get to their rooms. Despite requesting it for the semester, Craig had been put in a single room instead of bunking with his best buddy. It had been annoying at first, but Craig was beginning to like having the room to himself. He’d been able to decorate how he wanted and was able to pluck away at his guitar without garnering unwanted attention from a roommate.

“By the way, have you seen Tweek?”

Clyde’s voice once again pulled Craig from his thoughts and he had to think for a moment to remember what exactly it was Clyde had been talking about. For the life of him, though, he couldn’t figure it out. “Sorry, what?”

Clyde rolled his eyes and stopped in front of his dorm room. Struggling to get his key to release from the pocket of his Letterman, Clyde repeated, “I was talking about you standing out in the rain. I saw Tweek leave you behind and I was wondering if you’d seen him after that.”

Blinking, Craig tried to cast his attention around to remember if he  _ had _ seen Tweek after the blond took off, but . . .

“No. I haven’t. He was pretty ticked off at me, though, so it's no surprise.”

Finally getting the door unlocked, Clyde fought to get the key out of the lock and then kicked the door open.

“Hasn’t he, like, been pissed off for the past few weeks?” Clyde asked, shrugging off his jacket and throwing it over a chair. Craig stayed in the doorway, not wanting to track water into the room. He needed to get out of these wet clothes and into a warm shower.

“Yeah,” the noirette agreed, “But I’m not sure why.” He shrugged. “Tweek hasn’t really been talking to me lately.”

The two were silent for a moment, both trying to figure out what in the world would cause Tweek to suddenly avoid his friends. There wasn’t any feasible reason, and because of that, all they could do was wait and hope that Tweek would come to them.

Letting out a breath in a forceful puff of air, Craig pulled his soaked hat off and scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. “Nothin’ for it, though. I should get a shower before Token’s party...” Pausing, Craig pulled a confused face and asked, “Wait, it is  _ tonight _ , right?”

It took Clyde a moment, already waist deep into his closet looking for clothes, to realize that the noirette had asked him something. “Hm? Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah, it’s tonight.” Then he went back to the customary groaning of, “I have nothing to wear!”

Craig rolled his eyes. That was one way that Clyde was very much like a girl, but Craig had always found it kind of endearing.

“All right, dude, see you later then.”

“Huh? Yup! Bye!”

Once in his own room, Craig was tempted to just flop onto the bed and sleep, but he knew that if he didn’t shower and get the chill out of his bones, he was going to get sick. He really didn’t need to catch a cold right before classes started. Besides, he’d never miss a party, especially not one of Token’s frat parties.

The shower did wonders for Craig and his current mood. When he stepped into the stream of almost burning water, it was like all the frustration and confusion over the past few hours was washed away with the cold that had sunk into his skin.

Had he really been blinded enough by the day to day events that he had never seen the sandy blonde before that interaction in the quad? Was he really that dense that he couldn’t tell what was bothering one of his best friends? True, Craig supposed that he couldn’t expect to be able to solve all of Tweek’s problems, but it still sucked that his friend was upset and there was nothing he could do to change that fact.

“Dude, you’ve been in there for like an hour! Token’s party starts at 8!”

At Clyde’s shout from the doorway of the communal bathroom, Craig let out a soft snort and smirked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’.”

“Well, hurry!” Clyde whined. He must have been walking away as he said it because the whine seemed to recede down the hall.

Stepping out of the warm steam with reluctance, Craig made his way back towards his room. He really shouldn’t have stood in the rain at all. It was pointless and stupid, but hey, he was stubborn, and he’d never miss out on a bet.

_ Besides...at least I got to see him... _

_ “CRAIG!” _

Rolling his eyes, the noirette sighed and tugged a long-sleeved polo over his head, and of course, soon after came his signature chullo. He’d never leave that behind.

“The hell, man, are you done yet?”

Turning around to where Clyde was waiting for him in the doorway, Craig blinked slowly at his friend. “Are you done rushing me?” he retorted, shoving his feet into his shoes and slipping his phone, wallet, and keys into his pockets. “The frat house is literally two minutes away. it’s not even 7:30 yet, dude.”

Clyde whined again and shuffled quickly between his right and left foot. “I know,” the brunet said, drawing out the word. “But Bebe is gonna be there early to help set up and I wanna see her.”

“Then why didn’t you just take off without me?” Craig answered, stepping out of his room and locking the door behind him. “It’s not like I can’t find my way there on my own.”

The two began walking down the hallway again and Clyde crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah...but...we always go together, y’know?” Clyde then looked up at Craig with a sad, pout-like look, like he was begging for something.

Craig let out a small “pfft” that soon erupted into a full laugh and he threw an arm over his shorter friend’s shoulders. “Yeah, I know, you crybaby.”

As they hopped down the stairs, Clyde scoffed and answered with, “I may be a crybaby, but your poor gay heart is going to be the death of you someday.”

Craig elbowed his friend, but he honestly couldn’t deny it. It probably would be. Hell, he’d gone through the majority his teenage years hopelessly in love with his blond best friend. Craig didn’t notice it himself, but a small, sad smile crossed his face. He was over it. He was over Tweek. He had been for years, but sometimes...the feeling of hopelessness that Craig had felt all those years still worked its way to the front of his heart. He had to force it back, or else it would overcome him.

“Craig . . .? You alright?”

Shaking his head at Clyde’s question, Craig pushed that nagging feeling to the back of his heart, ready to be acknowledged at another time. “Yeah, dude. I’m fine. Just...thinking.”

“About him, huh?”

Craig only nodded. Of course, Clyde would know all about it. They’d been neighbors their entire lives and had been like brothers since they were in diapers. Probably even before that.

“Hey, I know it sucks and I’m sure you’ve heard it before,” Clyde began as they stepped through the doors of their dorm, “But there are tons of guys out there, y’know? And I’m sure you’ll find one that has the same intensity of feelings towards you that you do for them. Look at me and Bebe, yeah?”

Craig snorted and shook his head. He looked up at the later afternoon sky. It had stopped raining sometime while he was in the shower, and now the sky was beginning to turn the colors of the setting sun. “You guys aren’t the best example, dude. You’ve been together for years, and even before that, you guys danced around being together since we were ten.”

Clyde rolled his eyes and sped up a little to step in front of Craig, turning around to look him in the eyes as he stepped backwards. “No, that’s my point! There is always someone out there who will give you the same amount of effort that you give them; you just have to find them, yeah? And with Bebe and I...” Clyde paused to catch his balance after encountering a crooked cobblestone. Regaining his footing, he continued, “We just happened to find each other early. Not everyone is gonna find that right away. But there is someone out there meant for every person. You’ll find him, Craig. I know it.”

Despite how sincere Clyde sounded, there would always be a part of Craig that felt like he never would find the person he was meant to spend his life with. That was probably just because he was lonely, but it was still a tangible feeling that he really didn’t like.

Shrugging the feeling away, Craig gave his friend a smile. He wasn’t going to ruin a night full of fun with his friends just because he was attention starved.  He watched Clyde as he just kept spinning and walking. He was amazing at how carefree is friend could be all the time, but…

“Clyde?”

“Uh-huh?”

“You’re about to--”

There was a  _ smack!  _ sound as Clyde then ran right into the same exact wall that Craig had walked into not two hours ago, except this time it was the other side of the wall.

“What the  _ hell _ , wall!?” Clyde whined out as he jumped back and then kicked the bricks lightly.

“Hey, its not the wall’s fault, dude.  It’s a stationary object.  _ You’re _ the one that ran into it.”

The brunet pulled another pouting face and crossed his arms.  “I know that. Still hurt, though.”

Craig once again rolled his eyes.  He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, but there was just something about his friend that made him do it.  Stepping over to his pouting friend, Craig threw an arm over his shoulder again and started to lead Clyde away from the wall and back onto the path to Token’s frat house.  “C’mon, you can be angry at the wall later. Your girlfriend’s waiting. Remember?”

It was like a switch was flicked and Clyde’s doe-like, brown eyes lit up at the mention of Bebe.  It caused a small smile to grace Craig’s face. Clyde was just so helplessly in love, and it showed.  The brunet smiled as well and skipped forward. “Then you better stop draggin’ those feet, Craig, ‘cause I’m about to leave you behind!”  Clyde indeed did leave Craig behind, and it wasn’t long before Craig couldn’t see him anymore. For someone so short, he sure could move.

Craig decided to take his time.  The noirette was sure that Token didn’t really need all that much help.  He had the entire fraternity under his thumb. They’d pretty much do anything for Craig’s friend.

A light breeze passed the tall boy by.  It was warm. Craig snorted at his own thoughts.  Of course, it was warm. It was still mid August. He kept his steps slow and even, and he made sure to avoid all of the uneven cobblestones.  True, he’d only been here for one semester so far, but it was like he’d lived here his whole life. He knew every nook and cranny of the campus.  He could probably tell you where everything was in his sleep. He’d never felt at home anywhere else like he did here, on this campus. 

“What do you mean I don’t have a room?”

“I’m sorry, but we just don’t have one available right now.”

“Then where am I supposed to go?”

Craig’s steps slowered even further until he was almost at a complete stop.  That voice was familiar, but where was it coming from?  _ If they’re talking about rooms, it must be the Dorm Management Building.   _

It was just around the corner.  The noriette was increasingly curious.  As he turned that corner and looked through the doorway into the building, his eyes caught on an orange hoodie.  His brows drew together as he stood aside and kept listening. He didn’t want to interrupt, but he really,  _ really _ wanted to know why the voice was familiar.

“I don’t know, kid, but I can’t help you.  There aren’t any open or any other students that have space for a roommate  I’m sorry. You’ll just have to find off campus housing,” the lady at the desk continued.  Craig had never had to deal with Dorm Management other than that one time he’d asked to be roomed with Clyde, but when he had, it wasn’t this woman.  She seemed old and crotchety enough that the tall boy was glad he hadn’t had to.

“I can’t  _ afford _ off campus housing,” the other boy had said, drawing Craig’s attention back to him and his oh-so-familiar voice.  “If I could, I wouldn’t be here right now, bothering you.”

The woman sighed and leaned back in her chair, her weight causing it to squeak.  “There isn’t anything I can do. You’ll just have to figure it out yourself, Kenny.”

Wait...KENNY, of course!  How could Craig have not recognized that it was  _ him _ ?  

Suddenly, it was like there was some otherworldly force at Craig’s back, because before he knew it, he was standing next to Kenny in front of that desk with his hand up next to his head.  “Uh, I have space available. I’ve been stuck in a single room since last semester. I’m sure you can make some adjustments and just let him stay there.” What was he saying? Why was he offering the other half of his room to a complete stranger?

“Really!?  You really don’t mind!?”  

Craig turned to look at the owner of that voice.  His sky-like eyes were lit up in disbelief and hope, a smile growing on his face.  The blush of excitement that was rising beneath those freckles almost stopped Craig’s “poor gay heart”, as Clyde liked to put it, right then and there.

What was he about to get himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully, a longer chapter. And thankfully, i'm not burnt out...yet.


End file.
